Creative Journeys Report 2019

Creative Journeys 79 6.3 Building on older people’s strengths and capabilities Across the findings examples of good practice highlighted ways in which arts facilitators enabled residents to both show and build on their strengths and capabilities. Importantly, these attributes were noticed by staff members. Whilst many mediating factors such as staff workload, turnover, having the space to host activities and so on presented challenges during the research, the overwhelming feedback was that either observing residents taking part in activities or working on the activity with them gave staff new insights into the capabilities of residents and illuminated aspects of their lives and personalities that might otherwise have remained hidden. New skills were also learnt about how to relate to residents and learn from them. It was gratifying to note through the observational data that the traditional roles of ‘carer’ and ‘cared for’ could be dissipated through shared activities - such as residents and staff doing the can-can together at the end of the live orchestral performance. Care staff can be viewed as the cultural catalyst (Wilson et al., 2016) of arts activities since their role in and attitude to arts activities in care home settings is critical in determining how supported residents feel during the activity and importantly how likely it is that some legacy is embedded into the fabric of the home when the activities end. Much effort by all of the art facilitators was put into the planning of activities with care staff and every effort was made to ensure that, where feasible, care staff had opportunities to take part in the activities too. However, in the wider survey it was noted that there are very few opportunities for either staff or residents to get involved in planning activities in care contexts although they may choose whether or not to take part. The ways in which the arts activities enabled the building of relationships between residents and between residents and staff both in the moment and for some in the longer term, fits well with strengths based models of practice that ensure that the skills and abilities of individuals are foregrounded rather than a focus on their perceived lack of capacity or skills (Department of Health and Social Care, 2019). This study has highlighted many ways in which participatory arts and cultural activities have the potential to initiate, build and sustain social relationships and a sense of community by encouraging creativity, enabling interaction, providing opportunities for reciprocal social exchanges and engaging older people in a common interest. There were examples of ways in which arts facilitators used group work mechanisms that enabled residents to give to their community as well as to receive from others in creating a community. This is in line with the idea of ‘relational aesthetics’ (Bourriaud, 2002), which suggests artistic practices are shared interactive encounters. This direction echoes other relational theories and practices in both the arts and social care practices (see for example, Donati, 2011; Raineri and Cabiati, 2016) that challenge mainstream western thought that celebrates individuality, independence and autonomy as primary goals for citizens, instead recognising the importance of inter-dependency and reciprocity in relationships. Reciprocity is a particularly important and interesting concept in the context of asymmetrical and hierarchical relationships, such as those in care homes where one person is essentially dependent for aspects of their lives on another. Reciprocity is defined in a number of ways but broadly speaking it is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, with each party giving something to the other and having mutual dependence, action or influence. Reciprocity in relationships exists when each party has voice, power, and contribution (Törrönen, Munn-Giddings and Tarkiainen, 2018). It involves giving and receiving in an